Optimizing the Expenditure-to-Cash Process for Professional Services Revenue Enhancement

The 170 MarkView® for Project Re-Billing solution enables consulting and service-related organizations to optimize their revenue and profitability. Exploiting the power of the 170 MarkView Financial Suite, and fully integrated with the ERP modules for Project Management, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, and Expenses, 170 MarkView for Project Re-Billing places all project expense information within easy reach of everyone involved in the project and automates the re-billing process. The process of gathering and processing billing backup information, such as receipts and supplier invoices, to invoice or "re-bill" clients no longer requires significant administrative overhead.

Improved Project Management

In addition to managing a project's tasks, assignments and deadlines, project managers must deal with the volume and wide variety of paper-based documents generated by each project - vendor invoices, travel expense receipts, etc. Compiling all related expense information, searching for missing information, and reproducing lost documents are administrative activities that distract the project team from their main goal of meeting project milestones on time and within budget. Automating the information management process in a manner that is fully integrated with the ERP project management module eliminates these distractions and focuses the project team on their primary objectives.

Optimizing the project management process provides a considerable benefit when projects are audited. Having back-up information readily available from within the ERP system enables internal and external auditors to complete faster audits, with less input from project managers.

Accurate and Faster Re-Billing

Professional services firms such as consulting, engineering, and construction management services have a major challenge in re-billing their clients for expenses and expenditures incurred for their projects. Even with the use of ERP suites that include online expense and time reporting, accounts payable, project management, and accounts receivable applications, the challenge of managing paper as part of the re-billing process still exists. Paper expense receipts, supplier invoices and timesheets lead to problems such as lost documents, overlooked expenses, inefficient retrieval and routing, etc. Collating all the backup material for a client invoice can be a complicated, costly, tedious process requiring significant clerical resources. This slows and complicates the re-billing process, negatively impacting both revenue cycles and client relationships.

170 MarkView for Project Re-Billing ensures the accurate summation and presentation of expenses, expenditures, and labor. All project related documents are scanned or faxed into the system early in the process. Expense receipts and time backup are submitted online using 170 MarkView for Expense Management while supplier invoices are captured online using 170 MarkView for Accounts Payable. Backup for all other project-related expenditures such as usage charges related to company car mileage, internal copying services, etc. are automatically attached to the corresponding project expenditure record.

In an integrated ERP suite of applications, the expense, labor and supplier charges flow directly into the ERP Projects module. The ERP Billing and Accounts Receivable module generates the client invoices using this information. With the addition of 170 MarkView for Project Re-Billing, all supporting client invoice information is collated online and linked to the corresponding project expenditure record. This gives project managers access to expenditure data related to their projects as well as the images of associated backup documentation for all project expenditures. Even more powerful, each expenditure's billing backup is automatically assembled online when the client's invoice is generated. This backup information can then be attached to mailed invoices or presented directly to the client via the web.

170 MarkView for Project Re-Billing's workflow defines how and where re-billing backup is to be routed for review and approval. Productivity of project managers and clerical staff is increased and the efficiency of project management and client re-billing processes are improved, reducing operating costs.

The Benefits of Automating Expenditure to Cash

• Improved Project Management - Automatically routing online documents streamlines the entire project management process. Spending less time on administrative tasks enables project managers to focus on more important tasks.
• Increased Productivity - For every project team member, the time and expense of locating, copying and mailing documents is eliminated and less burden is placed on the project manager.
• Lower Administrative Costs - Document transportation costs are eliminated, as are the cost of physical storage space: office space, filing cabinets, offsite storage, microfiche equipment, etc. Clerical time is no longer spent looking for lost or misfiled documents.
• Improved Control and Compliance - With the optimized workflow enforcing accountability and all actions automatically recorded in an audit trail, compliance with corporate standards and legal regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley is improved.
• Simpler Audits - With all project backup documentation available on-line from within the ERP system, internal and external audits are completed in less time with fewer people affected.
• Leverage Existing ERP Investments - Project managers and project team members continue to use their existing ERP interface and tools, assuring rapid adoption of the optimized processes.
• No Training Required for Employees - Due to the intuitive user interface and seamless integration with the ERP project management application, training is generally not needed for those on the project team.
• Increased Revenue and Margins - Optimizing the re-billing process reduces overlooked expenses. Capturing all of the expenses raise revenues and increase margins.
• Intelligent Gathering of Billing Information - For multi-page supplier invoices that include charges for multiple clients, 170 MarkView for Project Re-Billing tracks which pages contain each client's specific information. This provides faster access and eliminates the need for billing professionals to search through large invoices to obtain backup to charges relevant to their projects
• Faster Billing - The optimized process enables Accounts Receivable to assemble complete billing information faster and present the invoice to the client earlier. This reduces days sales outstanding (DSO) and improves cash flow.
• Fewer Billing Disputes - Disputes are reduced as all relevant billing information is included with the invoice. Disputes that do occur are resolved faster with fewer resources.
• Improved Client Service - 170 MarkView for Project Re-Billling's self-service access improves service levels to clients by providing them with all of the appropriate information and enabling them to check their invoices online using a browser based interface.

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Collateral

• Suffolk Construction - Customer Success Story (PDF, 94 KB)